James Richards

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Sunday Morning Service

Jeremy Richards

Copalis Community Church

25 January 2026

Bible References

• Hebrews 2:8-10
• Ephesians 1:7
• Philippians 2:5
• Colossians 1:13

Audio MP3 PDF

So we just started the Book of Hebrews and we got a little bit and we see I'm going to kind of backtrack a little bit into who this book is written to and at what maybe time period it was written. So this book, Hebrews Chapter one, we see the author is encouraging its listeners, its recipients, to pay attention because God is speaking to them in a new way. They had been accustomed or were aware to familiar with. They were the people of the book. Having understood how the people spoke to them in times past as holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit, they were aware of the impact of that message on their society.

If they didn't listen to those prophets, there were consequences of that were going to come. As a result, they were familiar with Jeremiah and Isaiah. They were familiar with the history of the Bible in Kings and Chronicles, the poetry of the Bible in Psalms and Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomons. They were familiar with the law being given at the hands of Moses. But now they're instructed to pay close attention because in these last days he spoken by his Son that the messages that they were going to give were different.

They were different in power, they were different in authority, they were different in purpose, they were different. And the idea is, because they were different in this way, we should pay careful attention to the words of the Son. And so the Book of Hebrews is given to us to give to these Jewish believers an idea of who the Son is. If you remember, primarily the Christian message had been delivered to an audience of almost completely of Jewish national origin.

That almost every original believer in the Christian faith was of a Jewish background. Yes, that is true. As a result, it spread from there. As a result of a persecution upon that small church by the Roman Empire. They made it their beginning official stance toward Christianity to persecute it and to stamp it out, to kill the leaders of it and to destroy them as people.

As a result of this persecution against the Jewish believers, they spread out into Judea and Samaria. This is an actual event that happened in time. So. So we see this message now that cannot be delivered by word of mouth, now has to be delivered by a letter to believers who are not present in Jerusalem any longer. They have been spread out.

It's important to note that by and large. Thank you, Malachi.

That secular society rejects almost everything about the Bible outright. Not looking into it, not studying it, not considering it. They just decide the Bible must not be true. But it's important to note one of the interesting things to Note about Bible history is not only who it was written to, but when it was written. We know that there were actual physical events.

Now I'm not, not necessarily a historian, I don't necessarily study things outside of the Bible that much. But there are a few things that are apparent to even people like me that must place when the Book of Hebrews was actually written. One of the things that skeptics will tell you is how can you know for certain that the Book of Hebrews or the Bible were written when it said, says it was written by the authors, it says it was written by. Now that is important. It is important because God has given us mental faculties to be able to discern whether or not the things that the Bible is saying to us is true.

We are all scientists in some way using the faculties that God has given us to put to test the theories that we encounter. We use our senses to do this. We see, we hear, we feel, we think with our mind. And so when was the New Testament written? Secular people said it must have been written much later.

They don't have any proof that it was written much later. They just assume it's written later. But one of the primary evidences to prove that the Bible was actually written in, in the first century is the destruction of Jerusalem. The destruction of Jerusalem. You see when Jesus was asked by the disciples, when is the last days going to come?

Anyone remember what he said?

When are the last days going to come? They wanted to know when. And they said, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its time is near. You will not see one stone left upon another. Anyone know when that happened?

70 AD is when that happened. And what's astonishing though it is not recorded in the New Testament. One time, if a biblical author wanted to prove their message to be true and to prove the prophecies of Jesus to be true, they would have said, look, didn't you see this happened? But no one says it happened. They all, in my understanding, according to my logic, had finished their messages of the Bible before 70 AD and therefore did not include it in any way, even though Jesus words absolutely did come true.

And the Jewish believers who were left in Jerusalem fled the city before it was destroyed by Titus. And I don't know how many close to, I think close to maybe a million or a lot of Jewish people were killed as not hearing that message. So Henry, we have a time frame. We have a people to whom the author of Hebrews was writing to. These were a people that had a background in, in the Jewish law.

They were still held by things that were preventing them from understanding the fullness of the message of Jesus Christ. Paul had no small conflict with those of the circumcision who preached that a man must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be saved. These individuals were struggling with how to relate their, the Old Testament part of their faith with the New Testament part of the faith. And so now the author of Hebrews is writing them to tell them about the fullness of who Jesus is. He's going to compare that and show that in relation to the Old Testament it is of more value, more value.

And he's going to explain who the Son is that he spoke to us in the last time.

One of the parables to give an indication of this is the parable of the vineyard, right? And there was a landowner and he leased the vineyard to a group of people. But then when time came for, for the harvest, right, the grapes began to be ripe. He wanted some grapes, right? After a long season of no fresh fruit, he wanted some grapes.

And he said he sent his servants to the owner of the vineyards, to the vineyard that he had leased to them. And he said, give me fruits of the harvest. And they wouldn't, it says, they beat some, ridiculed others, and treated them spitefully. But the owner of the vineyard reasoned with himself, said, okay, they wouldn't listen to my son, or, excuse me, they wouldn't listen to my servants. They didn't place enough authority on the message that my servants brought to them.

They wouldn't respect my message through them. But surely they will respect it if I send my message through my son. He is saying that the message through the Son is of more value than the message that came to the servant. The authority that the Son has is so much higher than the message that came through the servants. Surely they will respect my son.

But what did they say? This is the Son, this is the heir, let's kill him and the vineyard will be ours. And says, and then Jesus says, what will they do to those individuals who treated my son that way? Said, he'll destroy those wicked men wickedly. That there was a punishment for not heeding the message that came through the Son.

It's one thing to disregard the message of the prophets when it comes to you, and there's going to be a physical trial, tribulation by not heeding the voice of the prophets. But when you disregard the voice of the Son, it's different. His authority, his message is of such that it must be understood, comprehended, and Put into practice for your own benefit. And so for you and I, we're in a similar position. We are in a position to hear the voice of the Son of God, to hear his voice, that whoever hears his voice will come out of the grave and live.

Those who will not will perish. You and I have an opportunity to hear the voice of the sons of God. The Son of God. It is important to listen. Hebrews is going to talk to us how the Son speaks.

So that's where we kind of got to last week. We're going to get to out of chapter one, verse one, chapter one, verse one. And we're going to find. Focus on a part of verse two. It says in chapter one of Hebrews, verse one, God, who various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom he also made the world.

Here we see this part that we're going to look at today, that he is the heir of all things. He inherits all things. All things come to Him. It's interesting. There are several ways in which people inherit things, inherit things.

Now, the most obvious example is people normally in our culture inherit things when someone dies, right? That someone dies. And then as a result, an individual inherits some sort of possession or land or something of some value, right? But that is not the only way in which an individual inherits something. There are also age limits that when a person reaches that certain age, they also inherit something.

We see in. I can't remember if it was in Galatians that a person is under tutors until such and such an age. And then when they reached that age, sometimes in the kings of England, it would have been like 18 years old, where that individual, even though he was king, was under regents until that time set by either their law or the king before them. And so at that certain age inherited the title of king. We see that also at times people inherit things at a point of marriage.

Marriage. That when they are married, they inherit something. We see in the Song of Solomon a unique scripture where it says that this chariot or this palanquin that he has carried in, that he has received the crown when he got married. His mother gave him the crown when he was married. And so that also is an indication of sometimes of how we can inherit something.

But people also inherit things at times because of exploits, right? Because of something that someone does because of a specific task they accomplish or battle they win or some sort of overcoming of some major obstacle as a result of accomplishing that deed. They also inherit something at different times. And we see, oftentimes, even in our culture, we see individuals who are World War II veterans or accomplish something in some great battle, they have a good opportunity to become president. And so there are different ways that people inherit something.

But here we see that this individual in verse two, the Son, it says, whom he has appointed heir of all things. This individual inherited everything. So we're going to look at a couple scriptures. But what did he inherit? How did he inherit?

I believe actually that in some way that all the things we mentioned about an individual that becomes an heir all in some way have to do with Christ. Also, we're going to start looking at the Son. So we're going to start in Ephesians chapter one. What did he inherit? How did he inherit it?

How does that impact us?

We're going to start in chapter one, and we're just going to go through seven, and these are going to be a little bit long. So I hope you'll read and focus.

Okay. In chapter one, verse seven, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, which he made abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in Him. And so here we see that at the right time, in the specific time when all things came together, all the prophecies had been fulfilled. In God's timing, we see that a young baby born in Bethlehem, destined for the fall and great in the world, that this sign would be spoken against all the prophecies. At the right time Jesus came into the world.

And verse 11, we'll continue. In him also we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. Okay, then we're going to go. We're just going to kind of stay around there. Go to Philippians.

Philippians, chapter 2, verse 5. Philippians 2, verse 5. It says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. So here we see, as an act of what Jesus accomplishes, he inherits something. In verse 9.

Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And one more, in Colossians 1:13.

It says in verse 113, he has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. So here we see that he inherits something, he becomes the heir of something. As a result of all these things coming together in one, he inherits something, something becomes his that he did not necessarily in the same way have possession of before. And we ask, what is that? We see that through these Scriptures and others, he becomes possessor of the Church.

He inherits something. One of the interesting examples of this is the kinsman Redeemer from Boaz perspective, right? Boaz inherits something, right? There was a young woman, and she comes to Boaz and asks if he. He will take her under his wings, meaning that he would provide for her, be a husband to her, and provide this act as a kinsman redeemer for her.

Boaz is obviously smitten in some way with this young woman. He had been working all night, and now, or working all day now, is sleeping on his own by the pile of grain. And this young woman comes in and covers his feet and lies down next to him. And he's obviously like, well, yes, this is something I want to do. I want to be that person to you.

But there's a problem that there is someone closer than he is in relation to Ruth, right? And so this matter has to be separated in court in the way. And it was happened at the gate. And so this other relative comes in and Boaz brings the problem. Look, Chilion's, which would be Ruth's son, Chilion, I can't remember the other son's name.

Their property has to be redeemed. Would you redeem Ruth's son's property so that their name would not be extinguished? The man says, yes, I'll do it. And then Boaz throws the kicker in, okay. On the day that you agree to redeem all that belongs to these, to Ruth's husband, you must take.

I'm sorry, Naomi's husband, you must take Ruth, the Moabitess, as your wife. You've got to marry her. He reacts vehemently, you know, and he says, basically, not a chance in Hebrew. He basically says, hell, no. Right?

Not a chance. If I marry her, I am going to confess, contaminate all that belongs to me. She is a Moabitess. I don't want any part of it. That is a picture, ultimately, of what Jesus inherited.

He inherited a wife. This was a group. He inherited people, people like you and me, people who have been proven to have a certain kind of character. Moses got to babysit them for a while in the des. Someone's babysitted our kids before, and they're like, are you home yet?

How far are you away? Malachi had to babysit yesterday. He's like, you know, I've been here enough with those two kids, right? And Moses is babysitting these guys in the wilderness. Finally, he's like, he's just about to agree with God.

You're right, God. Ten times I stood up for this people and prayed for them, interceded them, but now, you know, strike them, just kill them. They're not worth anything. That's the kind of people that's proven in the Old Testament to be a disobedient, an ornery, an ugly, a wayfaring, a sinful people. And the Lord gets the privilege after the right time, the coming of time, the perfect time.

After exercising himself in this tremendous battle against the enemy, overcoming Satan in a conquest for the title of this people, after proving himself as an individual worthy of marrying this people, he says, I want this people. I will take them. I want them to be my own. I want to have them. He inherited this people.

We're doing a marriage class right now and. And have. Some of the couples are in this church. And I'm not necessarily saying about them, but sometimes we see that married people are going to express a desire to get married. And you're just like, do you really know what you're doing?

Sometimes women and men, they put on their nice clothes and they look beautiful, but really it's just a. It's a ring of gold in a pig snout, right? Their character is going to come out eventually. Do you know what you're doing? Do you really know what you're asking for, Sandra?

You know, my dad was such a big, strong guy and, you know, handsome and all this stuff. But now she's having to, you know, clean up after him. You really know what you're asking for. Do you know the mess that's going to be associated with marrying this person? Jesus knows that and he wants to become the heir of this person.

I want to inherit the right to take this people, you know, who, yes, is ugly by nature, who appears to be, have all these problems, but I want them. I want to take them and provide for them. I want to clean them, I want to teach them, I want to be responsible for them. And so the Father, if I can just put it, you know, just, you know, kind of easily, the Father agrees to this condition and gives the Son mankind as a result. Mankind.

Now, after this great battle has taken place between the devil and the Son, and the Son becomes the stronger one. They belong to Him. All authority has been given to the Son. Every name of authority has been given to the Son. He is given all judgment for this people group.

They will answer to Him. He will provide for those needs. And now that he has become responsible for this people, you and I, how much more should we listen to Him? How much more should we pay attention to the words that he speaks? The truth is, is you and I are listening to messages.

Not all those messages are from the sun. You and I are being wooed and impacted and pushed and shoved directions. But not all of those are for the Son. And so I'm going to close this message reading again in Hebrews. Now that he's went through all of this and has actually become such a heir, now that he has inherited mankind, this rebellious child, this not always pretty child, how should we react?

We need to know. I'm going to go to skip forward in Hebrews a little bit to chapter two.

In verse eight. Eight's a little bit of a continuation of a scripture. It says, you have put all things in subjection under his feet, for in that he put all in subjection under Him. He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we do not yet see all things put under Him.

But we see Jesus, who is made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, might taste death. Everyone. Now that he has received as a possession this group, he is willing to die for them. He is willing to exercise every resource he has available to him, every thing that is by nature his own. He is willing to expend those resources for the bride he has purchased for himself because of his own love for that people.

And as such, my encouragement to you today, this week is listen to the voice of the Son. You and I need to be engaged in the word of God, hearing the voice of the Son. We need to be paying attention to His Spirit who exalts the things of Christ in our life because he has promised, after he has purchased us, to expend every resources he has on our behalf. So we're going to close that. And my hope is that you are saying yes to the Son of God.

We're going to look next week, God willing, at creation, that he is the creator of God, all things. That is a very specific position that he holds and one that cannot be missed in looking at his message. So let's go ahead and pray together. And I pray you're just encouraged to hear the voice of the Son of God. Let's pray.

Father, we do come to you thanking you first of all for your great love with which you loved us. That in the fullness of time, Lord, at the right moment, after a great struggle in your flesh that you purchased for yourself a people and now you've committed to yourself to provide for their needs, to lift them from where they were into where you want them to be. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.